Lorry driver cleared of charges after crash seriously injured woman

A lorry driver whose load fell off and crushed a woman has been cleared of all charges. Slawomir Kotlowski, 41, was driving on the A35 westbound in Lyndhurst in October 2022 when several paving slabs fell off the back of the vehicle. Pedestrian Chloe Evans was struck by the slabs while she was out walking on her lunch break.

Ms Evans suffered life-changing injuries as a result of the incident. Following a three-day trial at Southampton[1] Crown Court, Kotlowski of Collenswood Road, Stevenage, was found not guilty of causing serious injury by careless driving by a jury. He had denied the charges.

(Image: Newsquest)READ MORE: The case against Kotlowski centred on whether he was aware of the warning signs given to him by a driver and passenger behind him as the slabs started to become loose. The court heard how he was on a near 34-minute phone call at the time of the incident and made an additional six calls during that time using a Bluetooth earpiece.

Robert Dilworth, who was driving behind the defendant, told the jury how he tried to stop him, "tooting my horn and flashing my lights". But Kotlowski said he would have stopped if he had become aware of the danger, adding: "What sort of human would I have been not to stop?" Giving evidence on the first day of trial, Mr Dilworth said: "I said [to my colleague Leon Palmer] 'someone is going to get killed in Lyndhurst'.

"I managed to get halfway along the side of the lorry but had to pull back as there were cars coming the other direction. "We noticed the blocks started moving again, so every chance we got we went in the outside lane, and I tooted my horn and flashed my lights. "I do not know how many times I did that; we were just at panic stations."

Kotlowski said he twice checked the straps securing his load, once before he began his journey and again when he stopped for breakfast in Winchester[2].

Speaking through an interpreter, Kotlowski said he neither saw the lights nor heard the horn.

References

1. ^ Southampton (www.dailyecho.co.uk)
2. ^ Winchester (www.dailyecho.co.uk)